There are many different dance turn boards and spin discs out there for you to buy. But which one is the best for your dancer? Take a read of our reviews – we actually bought and tested out each product!

The best turn boards and discs for dancers have a smooth surface that will not scratch your floors, padding that is secured with glue and not screws or nails and have an adequate flat surface before curving to ensure maximum contact with the floor for turning.

An image of 4 different turn boards and one turn disc on a wooden floor

My dancers had been asking for a while for me to buy them a dance turn board but I really wasn’t sure whether they would be a safe tool for them to use to improve their ballet and dance skills.

So I asked Lesley Mealor one of our resident writers, dance teacher, competition judge and co-host for the podcast Making the Impact to write some articles on how to use them safely.

Once I read those which you can access here:

I jumped onto Amazon only to see there were quite a few different options to choose from, so I decided to buy a selection of the turn boards and discs so I could review them here for you!

The Best Turn Boards – Product Review

The following are in no particular order – except for the last turn board in this list as it is our favorite but does not seem to be in production anymore?

Turn Board Pro

Ok so I bought a few different Turn Board Pro boards – to see if there was any difference! And there wasn’t between the two pictured, but there was with the Kenzie model!

I bought the Ballet is Fun TurnBoard – Blue Official turnboard, the Kendall K TunrBoard (Official TurnBoard) as well as the Kenzie with App that I review next.

The plastic used on these turn boards compared to most of the other ones feels slicker and stronger. It is a hard nylon durable plastic and contains no latex.

We have found overall that the bottom does not scratch as quickly on these boards as it did on many of the other brands from use.

Where they were different was the width! The place where you put your foot is actually slimmer than all of the other brands. The Blue Official TurnBoard and The Kendall K were both the same width and the Kenzie was slightly wider, but they were still less foot space in the width than the other brands on this list.

The padding is nice and thick, however, it is not always cut to the right length as you will definitely notice on the Kenzie pro.

The company states on their official website that every part of the TurnBoard Pro is made in the USA.

The Kendall K board was actually one of the cheapest I bought, and if you can find it at a reasonable price although basically the same as the regular TurnBoard pro it is the one I would recommend as you are getting the TurnBoard quality but at a budge price.

But as Amazon changes their prices on items all the time, you may not find this to be the case?

Buy the Kendall K TurnBoard Pro

Buy the TurnBoard pro

Turn Board Pro Kenzie with App

Turn Board Pro, The Official Turnboard company was able to contract several of the dancers from the Dance Mom Series to promote and create their own signature turn boards.

This particular one designed with Kenzie Ziegler comes in a glitter pink but the special added feature is the linking of the board to an app that helps you to count how many turns you have achieved amongst other things.

The inclusion of the app and technology into the turn board does make this the most expensive option currently on the market, but the novelty of the app turns this ordinary turn board into a lot of fun!

The app generally works well for us, although we are not yet doing lots of turns at this time.

I was impressed with how thick the padding on this board was compared to any of the others we reviewed.

However as you can see in the pictures, the padding was not made long enough for the insert in the turn board and as this was the most expensive of them all I was definitely not impressed with that oversight – but perhaps mine was just faulty? It is still very usable, the gap is just annoying!

Oh and it is the same width as the others. I have seen some images that make it look wider, but it isn’t!

Buy the Kenzie Turnboard Pro with App

Pirouette Board by Zenmarkt

The Pirouette Board by Zenmarkt is an good choice for a turn board and comes with an online ebook.

The padding fits all the way from end to end and was nice and thick. The width was slightly wider than the TurnBoard Pros however the plastic although strong seems less resilient to the friction caused by turning compared to the TurnBoard Pro.

The carry bag it came with is a nice addition however there is no need for all the strings – the slip and drawstring would have been sufficient – no one is going to carry it over their shoulder or on their back!

If you purchase this one make sure you don’t throw out your packaging, as there is an instruction leaflet on how to download the ebook on how to use the board!

Honestly – this board looks and feels exactly like the next one we bought by Esmerelda, however they state theirs is made from a nylon-polymer composite rather than a resin-plastic like the next brand.

They are both however generally less expensive than the TurnBoard Pros.

Buy the Pirouette Board

La Esmerelda Turn Board

There are no bells or whistles with the La Esmeralda Turn Board, it came with the packaging photographed above and just a few other pamphlets about the company. There is a lovely little about paragraph on the pamphlet which alludes to the fact the brand is family run

It does however look very similar to the Zenmarkt product just stamped with a different name! – there are slight differences such as the product they are made from, the bags are slightly different, but only just!

The padding is nice and thick and fills the insert area fully. The underside is (was) nice and smooth and allows for a smooth turn.

My dancer has used this one on several surfaces wood, carpet and marley (dance vinyl flooring) and as you can tell from the underside photo and the plastic bottom has scratched easily! These are made from a resin plastic, designed in the US but assembled overseas.

It is however still very usable, especially on carpet and marley (dance vinyl flooring), but not as slick as when first used. But, as my dancer is not an advanced dancer she actually likes the board like this as it does not slip and slide as much anymore but it means she cannot use it on the hardwood floors in the house.

I am not sure if this is because it was made from a resin plastic, where as the others state they are made from nylon or nylon-polymer composite, but as we use this one more I will update this description with it’s wear and tear!

Buy the La Esmerelda Board

Our Favourite – The Pirouette Master

The Pirouette Master made by Improve Dance is our favorite.

It is made from a strong thick perplex plastic and comes in three colors, red/pink, blue, and clear.

It has two separate pads, one at the front and back for the ball and the heel of the foot for practicing turns on a flat foot.

The middle section is made so just like a turn disc you can practice turns on releve.

In this way, this turn board acts like both a turn disc and a turn board which is one of the things we love about it.

It also has a stopper on the back which none of the other turn boards had.

There are two cons to this one, the first being it was the second most expensive of all the turn boards, but also because of the following…

Unfortunately, the website of the company that makes the pirouette master is unresponsive and their last social media posts are from 2020. It looks like the company Improve Dance who make them unfortunately seems to have gone out of business in 2020.

If you have any information about this product or can help me update this information please use the contact form in the footer of the website – Thanks Samantha xx

What not to buy!!! – Ali Express – FishingWei Store

The above image shows a turn board I bought from Ali Express. I added in a mini image of the store name as well because I am aware that there are many different stores on Ali, however all the products from the different suppliers looked exactly the same.

The only two pros on this product were that it was the cheapest option and arrived quickly.

However, I would not advise you to buy a turn board from Ali Express or from this store in particular.

If you can see in the image above I have my finger pointing to a lump – that right there is some sort of screw tip or piece of plastic right in the middle of the padding.

When you put your foot onto the turn board this sharp protruding object sticks into the sole of the foot! I haven’t ripped the padding off yet to see what is under there as it is stuck down quite strongly.

This turn board is not as wide as the others, the black padding is much thinner and as you can see it does not fit as snuggly end to end.

So buy this one at your own risk!

The Best Turn Discs or Spin Spots- Product Review

This section is coming and will be up in the next few days!

Quick Answers:

What are turning boards made of?

Turn boards are usually made of either hard plastic or wood and are about 3 inches wide and around 12 inches long.

Can you make a homemade turning board?

Yes, you can make a homemade turn board and there are tutorials out there on how to do this made from pieces of a cardboard box stuck together and covered with material. But how well do they work is another question as well as how long do they last? I have also seen people complain that the DIY versions have too much friction not allowing you to spin like the ones you can buy, with suggestions of adding a sock over the top to help spin Our Editor in Chief Samantha will be testing the instructions on how to do this and will compare a DIY board with the real thing in some videos on the Dance Parent 101 Youtube Channel, so make sure to look out for those!

Do turn boards scratch the floor?

Turn boards are best used on hardwood floors or vinyl (Marley or Tarkett) dance flooring, and they should not leave any marks. That being said, they do make a drilling motion and therefore constant spinning on the exact same spot may start to affect flooring. If your turn board scratches the floor contact the manufacturer you bought it from as it might be faulty.

What is the best turning board?

The Turnboard Pro is a great option as not only does it do its job, but you can Bluetooth it to a device such as your phone and record how many spins you can accomplish. Check out our resource page here for more information – Please note we will be updating the resource page once we have finished testing 8 different turn discs and boards we have just bought.

The Best Turn Boards & Discs for Dancers! Products Bought & Reviewed!